Letters to the editor, Feb. 9

Published 5:53 pm, Friday, February 8, 2013

The San Francisco Law Library is having trouble relocating research materials during remodeling.

The San Francisco Law Library is having trouble relocating research materials during remodeling.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Letters to the editor, Feb. 9

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I am pleased that another mayor wants to take a stab at curbing litter ("With Giants help, a pitch to tidy up S.F.," Feb. 8) and believe that Giants players could make a difference in getting young people to stop littering.

Mayor Ed Lee and the Giants must also focus on stopping smokers from tossing their cigarette butts into the gutters.

The harmful chemicals used in cigarette filters - namely nicotine, benzene and cadmium - endanger the health of our bay and ocean.

I think most people believe a cigarette butt is not litter. Cigarette butts are not biodegradable, they are toxic, and they are litter.

Cliches 'R' us

Shun fossil fuels

I applaud Supervisor John Avalos for introducing a nonbinding resolution calling for the San Francisco Employees Retirement System to divest from fossil fuel companies due to the risks posed by climate change ("Avalos urges not investing in guns, fossil fuel," Feb. 6).

Scientific evidence makes it clear that reserves of coal, gas, and oil cannot be fully exploited without unleashing dangerous consequences of global warming. Fortunately, retirement fund managers have other options. They can invest in projects that reduce and replace the use of fossil fuels.

Examples include investments in technologies that expand the use of renewable energy, electric vehicles and advanced biofuels. Significantly reducing our oil consumption will reap rewards to our economy and our environment. There is an inherent inconsistency in the city's positions: It both invests in carbon-intensive companies and pursues policies to limit harmful emissions.

San Francisco should be commended for raising the issue of how pension fund values will be affected by investments that actively contribute to untenable climate change. Hopefully, these financial sensibilities will gain global traction and help ensure a cleaner, healthier and more economically secure future.

Find S.F.'s law library a home

As a past president of the State Bar of California and the Bar Association of San Francisco, I am writing to support the San Francisco Law Library in its efforts to secure proper funding and support from the city and county of San Francisco ("Law library sues S.F. over losing book space," Feb. 7).

As the oldest institution of its type in California, the San Francisco Law Library is worthy of protection and preservation based on its history alone, not to mention its collection of rare books.

But it is the Law Library's value as a public benefit that is most important. There is no other resource of its type for San Francisco residents who don't have the means or access to hire an attorney or otherwise secure legal aid. It is incumbent on the city of San Francisco to ensure that the library is properly maintained, now and in the future. I hope that a solution can be reached soon to protect the public's access to affordable legal assistance.

An essential resource for the city

I was disappointed to read that the San Francisco Law Library has had to sue the city to prevent its violation of the City Charter requiring its provision of adequate space to house its law books. Not only does the city's refusal to provide this space violate the City Charter, it violates the egalitarian ethos to which so many people in this city subscribe.

The law library is an essential resource for many small firm practitioners in this city who cannot afford to purchase the voluminous libraries that the more well-funded firms maintain. The law library makes research simpler, easier, and cheaper for the smaller firm practitioners.

Without the law library, these attorneys - and the less well-off clients they typically represent - would be at a significant disadvantage in their ability to research and prepare their cases relative to the larger firm attorneys. For this reason alone, the city should provide adequate support to the Law Library.

John Brown, San Francisco

Standing up for fat people

Good for Chris Christie! ("Gov to doc: Shut up," News of the Day, Feb. 7).

I cheered him as a public voice for all the fat people who endure bias and bullying about their weight every day, but usually in private.

As Christie rightly pointed out in other news reports, this doctor had never met him, knows nothing about his medical history and thus is no expert on his health. Yet she felt perfectly righteous trying to publicly humiliate him while saying she cared about him.